Posts made by franz-unix

@DenisJ the link is broken, so I have not seen the contacts that you have bought, but if they are just a little bit smaller and they can fit the hole on the pcb, they should be OK.

@DenisJ : Glad to know that this work has been useful for you in some way.

Regarding the AAA battery holder, the footprints on the PCB are for a Keystone 5204 (negative) and Keystone 5226 (positive) contacts.

I have purchased them on ebay; unfortunately the item that I have purchased is not more available, but this one appears to me like the same thing.

Hi guys,

my last creation: the d-diot hub v.3.0

The hub A (wood) is a dual MySensors gateway (RFM69 and NRF24) based on two ESP8266 modules and a BLE gateway + RGB controller thanks to an ESP32 module and ESPHome firmware.

The hub B (grey and red) is an IR gateway and RC 433 Mhz gateway based on ESP32 modules with an ESPHome firmware. The hub B has also an integrated step-up and step-down voltage regulator based on Arduino Nano.

To allow the maximum flexibility in placement inside the house, each module can be build as a stand-alone piece of hardware or combined in a single device (see pictures).

The hub is meant to be used with Home Assistant, the case is 3d printable and as usual, if someone is interested, there is a dedicated wiki page with all the details and the build instructions.

Hi guys,

this is my last node. A 3d printable smart USB power hub.

If someone is interested, here all the details.

Interesting topic!
I agree, the amount of time required to learn how to do the things is quite high and after a lot of research you will find that other people have had the same issue... so in the end you have just reinvented the wheel!

In any case I think that MySensors is a very good project and probably underrated respect to how good and useful it is for a maker that wants to build its own domotic sensor and actuators.

For the reasons above (and others), some times ago I have started the d-diot project:

• The hub (Raspberry Pi + d-diot board) implements, among the other things, two MySensors gateway (RFM69 868 Mhz + NRF24L01). All the software configuration steps are well documented in the dedicated section of the wiki.

• In general the software part is easy because all is preconfigured in the d-diot image. Just burn the iso image to an SD card and you will have Home Assistant and MySensors working and ready to go.

• 3d printable sensors and actuators and the relative PCBs and firmware are part of the project. All parts (hardware, firmware, 3d printable case) are open source

• In the wiki you will find the detailed build instructions (with pictures) for each device, so @mhkid and @Psilin maybe here you can find some useful information or a at least a good starting point for your nodes. In particular the Mini-BT-Pcb-328P is a general purpose and flexible board that could be useful for a lot of small (battery or USB powered) RFM69 or NRF24L01 nodes.

Now I'm in contact with PCBway, a PCB manufacturer that offers also soldering service, so If there are enough people interested, I think that it is possible to start thinking about the possibility to start a small production of some boards, maybe already assembled. In my opinion this will be helpful for other people.

Let me know... maybe we can start something

@NeverDie a sodium hypochlorite solution is what is commonly known as bleach. Probably is more convenient to buy it rather than produce them.

Just to give you an idea, below a picture of a famous bleach commercialized in Italy... Maybe you have the same brand in your country

Your question about the concentration and efficacy is interesting.

Hi guys,

today I have finished the 3d printable case of the d-diot hub.

The hub basically is a Raspberry Pi 3 with the d-diot board (see this topic) that offers the following functionalities:

• IR Gateway (blaster and receiver) to control every device that has a dummy infrared remote.

• 433 Mhz Gateway with the RFLink firmware running on the on-board ATMega2560 microcontroller

• Dual MySensors Gateway: NRF24 (2.4 Ghz) and RFM69 (868 Mhz).

• Latch circuit to power-on and safely power-off your Pi with a simple button press.

• SSD1306 I2C Oled display controllable in Home Assistant

• Radio activity LEDs for IR and Mysensors gateways

• Nice and powerful web interface thanks to Home Assistant

• Easy setup and configuration with the d-diot image

If someone is interested, here the detailed build instructions.

@BearWithBeard I love the video of the swiss guy!

@NeverDie Good question. My is too young (2 days) to say something.

Here a possible solution. See at about 9:50

Hi, finished two nodes based on the same multi-purpose battery powered pcb (all the documentation here)

One is a door / window sensor based on a Reed switch.

If someone is interested, the dedicated wiki page contains the detailed build instructions.

The other is a soil moisture sensor.

For this one, the wiki page is here.

Happy Easter, even if at home!

@skywatch Thnaks!

The main goal of this board is to offer a simple way to build any kind (RFM69 and NRF24 support, MYSX connector) of compact battery powered node.

Today I have finished the first node based on this board: a door window sensor (reed switch).

If someone is interested, here the detailed build instructions.

The next node based on this board will be a soil moisture sensor!

Hi guys,

in order to facilitate the development of any kind of battery powered sensors (or actuators), I have designed this small pcb that can be easily placed in a 3d printable case

The main features are:

• Small dimensions: 55 x 35 mm

• Multiple power options: 2 x AAA batteries or 1xAAA battery (Rechargeable or Alkaline), 1 x CR2032 battery, standard cellphone charger at 5V through the micro USB port or through Vin and GND pin of the MYSX connector

• Reverse polarity protection (Mosfet Q1) to prevent damages in case of wrong batteries insertion.
  Boost converter (ME2188C33) to increase the battery voltage to 3.3V when necessary

• LEDs for radio traffic and low batteries signaling. All configurable in the firmware.

• Multiple radio module supported: NRF24L01 (SMD and THT) and RFM69.

• Footprint for a reed switch

• MYSX connector v.2.6

• Support for ATSHA204 chip (security and signing)
  Mounting hole for a M2.5 screw

Probably in this days the ATMega-328P is a sort of "old" technology but for simple battery powered devices it remains a good option, also for its easy of use.

If someone is interested, all the informations and the links to technical files (kicad project, gerber, schematics, firmware, etc) are in the dedicated wiki page of the d-diot project.

Hi guys, thanks for this release! Tested with a Pi 4 and a dual ethernet gateway (RFM69 + NRF24): it works!
My /boot/config.txt is here.

Here a guide with video... very nice ! Probably a dirty job, but feasible in a garage and this technique could be useful when you have to make multiple copies of the same object.

@berkseo: thanks, I'm quite happy with the final result. I will publish the build instructions and all the related stuff of the mood lamp in the d-diot website, hopefully before the end of the year. It is based on an ESP8266 (with a custom PCB) and the firmware is generated with ESPHOME, so MySensors is not involved.
For the base of the lamp, which is printed with a wood filament, I have had to change the nozzle of my printer from 0.4 to 0.6 mm.

@nca78 thanks for the info! I have seen that the Anycubic resin is available also in big online stores like Amazon, so fast delivery time guaranteed.

@NeverDie: Unfortunately the fragmentation is the dark side of the moon of the open source world, but in my opinion the quality of some project here is really awesome and above the average, so it is a shame that they don't have the adequate visibility. In addition in this last months some big pcb manufacturers like JLPCB have included in their offer an assembly service, so, with the adequate visibility and documentation, the entry barrier for new users in the DIY home autmation could be not so high.

@berkseo The "marble" case is very cool! The filament is easy to print or requires some special parameters? For example in this days I'm fighting with a wood filament, below the results

@nca78 yes I know that the resin is toxic and unfortunatly another drawback is that you have to wash (with IPA) and cure your parts after printing. For sure not so easy and "safe" like a normal FDM.

But guys... There are a lot of interesting finished projects (pcb+case+firmware), what about a dedicated section and a standard way to collect and present them, maybe with detailed build instrunctions?
This may be helpful for new users but also for more experienced people that have to not reinvent the wheel every time.

For example I have tried something like this with my multisensor and Gas sensor.

@berkseo the final result of your SLA printed part is impressive. In the picture it appears smooth like a part obtained with injection molding.

Probably for small electronic enclosures a SLA printer is better than a FDM. It's Christmas time... I have to consider the idea to buy one

Amazing!

The case is 3d printable?

Hi guys, project finished! Now the led are under the Fresnel lens, so the design of the case is more clean (WAF +10 ).

The final result:

With 2 x AAA batteries and the RFM69 radio module the node works very well and the total cost of the parts is about 10€.

If someone is interested, here a detailed build guide, with the links to all the parts of the project (3d model of the case, Kicad project, gerber files, BOM, firmware).

Hi, if someone needs more info (debug, log, etc...) I'm here.

I can perform tests on Rpi 3 and Rpi 4 (Raspbian Buster) with NRF24 and RFM69 radio modules and then report the results. Not so much but maybe this can help the development.

Tested with this commit of @phildefer, now both gateways compiles and starts but for both I got this error.

Oct 27 20:50:41 DEBUG !TSM:INIT:TSP FAIL

Update:

• tested the RFM69 gateway with a radio module attached -> Not working

• tried to compile and execute the NRF24 gateway on the first spi bus (--spi-spidev-device=/dev/spidev0.0) -> same error as above

ERROR Could not open /sys/class/gpio/gpio12/direction

I have checked my Makefile and configure files and they don't contain the modification proposed by @phildefer . Is this normal? I'm using the development branch.

Ok my Pi 4 is arrived. I have 2 gateway, one RFM69 and one NRF24 connected respectively to spi0 and spi1. Details here.

With a Raspberry Pi 3 all works fine (compilation and execution) with both Rasbian Stretch and with Raspbian Buster.

With a Raspberry Pi 4 and the same version of Rasbian Buster the situation is a bit different:

• The RFM69 gateway on the SPI0 compiles and can be executed without problems. In this days I don't have an RFM69 radio module, so I don't know if it works, but the daemon start in a regular way.

• The NRF24 gateway compile, but after few seconds of execution the daemon stops with the following error.

Oct 26 13:59:47 ERROR Could not open /sys/class/gpio/gpio12/direction

Considering that the same configuration works for a Pi 3, it is possible that the error is caused by the autodetect of SoC issue mentioned above?

The details of my /boot/config.txt file are here

@rvendrame Thanks, I have tried your small "nap" trick and in fact something is happened... but in the opposite direction! The number of false positive is increased

But probably this is the way to solve the issue. Please note that, in order to stabilize the battery voltage, in the sketch I already have a cr2032_wait() function that sleep the MCU after each radio transmission, if the battery type is set to CR2032.

@seniora the board supports multiple batteries and multiple radio modules.
When Vcc goes below 2.7V (BoostThreshold in the sketch) the booster is turned on and stay always on, while when Vcc is > 2.7 the booster is turned off and stay off. This is the case of a fully charged CR2032 battery or 2xAAA disposable (Alkaline) batteries.
With 2xAAA rechargeable batteries (NiMH) Vcc is max 2.4V so the booster is turned on by the MCU.

The ME2188 works well with RFM69 and 2xAAA rechargeable batteries (Vcc < 2.7V): no false positive in the PIR and good range for the radio transmission. See below that in the night with no motion the pir stay off (clear) even if the booster is active.

With the NRF24 radio module and a CR2032 battery I have some (not so frequent) false positive in the PIR, but the booster here is always off (VCC > 2.7V), so this may be caused by something else. Searching around, found this.
Probably is the 2.4 Ghz RF signal of the radio module that triggers some false positive in the PIR!
In fact I observe this false positive when the node wakes up by a timer interrupt and start sending data.

If you go with 2xAA or 2xAAA rechargeable batteries (2.4V) and an Arduino (ATMega328P) without a booster set the BOD level to 1.8V and run your MCU at 1 Mhz.
With a Vcc of 2.7V and the MUC running at 8 Mhz I have experienced some problem (reset). See here for more details

@kiesel Good news!
I will test both (nrf24 and rfm69) when my Pi 4 arrive.

Thanks guys for the effort to port MySensors for the Pi 4.

I'm very interested, but my coding skills are not sufficient to help in the development. Maybe I can do some debug when my Pi4 will arrive

MySensors for the Pi4 is a must-have!

Re: d-diot: dual MySensors gateway for Raspberry... And more!

Hi guys,

the d-diot board v.2.0 is ready.
Respect to the previous version it is mechanically compatible with the new Raspberry Pi 4, and of course backward compatible with the previous version of the Pi.

The position of some components has also been changed (led mostly) to facilitate the development and to improve the design of the 3d printable case.

In this moment the compatibility with the Pi 4 is only mechanical because, if I'm not wrong, MySensors is not yet available for the new version of the Pi.

There are some other problems (LIRC for example) related to the adoption of Raspbian buster, so it is too early for a complete migration to the new hardware

@blom Hi, if you want to run two gateway on the raspberry GPIO, it is possible but it requires some configuration steps.

You can find some info here in the forum or you can see here how I have done it for the d-diot board (check basic system and MySensors pages).

I have used an RFM69 radio module in combination with Nrf24, but it should work also for an rfm95, if the wiring is the same.

Hi, I have used a couple of
this without any problem.

The supplier is a chinese store, so the shipping time is quite long, but the price is very low.

Not yet tested the version with pressure sensor.

@mickey Yes you can drive the motor directly from the esp32-cam module, but with MySensors you can put in deep sleep and wake up the esp32 on demand (pir, timer, etc...) for eample with an automation managed by the controller.

In fact the esp32-cam, at least with the esphome firmware, is always active and the module become hot after few minutes.
With an additional controller more power friendly you can turn on the module only when necessary.

Hi guys,

Just an idea...
What about an esp32-cam moved at 360 degrees by a stepper motor controlled by an Atmega328p and Mysensors? Of course all enclosed in an suitable 3d printed case.

This could be a cheap and interesting solution for video surveilance.

And... the 3d printed case for the board V.1.0
Some adjustment in the tolerances and print settings are required, but the final results may not change so much.

The case for the board V.2.0 will be similar, only the position of the LED will change.

@scalz I know that you are a beast in the board design
Thank you for sharing your experience!

Newer MCU, like NRF52 will be also my next step, but for the moment I feel more comfortable with the well known and easy to use ATMega328P.

I agree with you, the range and the reliability of the RFM69 is by far better than NRF24.

@scalz with the RFM69 radio module (868 Mhz) I can cover the whole house (about 100 m2), with 3 walls between the gateway and the node, so, for my use case is adequate.

With the NRF24 radio module (THT version) I have the same (poor) range that I can obtain with an Arduino and the same radio module connected with jumper wires, so on the basis of my test the quality of the radio signal is not affected by the boost converter.

I have not yet deeply tested the pcb with the smd version of the NRF24 radio module.

In any case do you have any suggestion for a better orientation/clearance of the antenna? Please note that for the RFM69 radio module you can place the antenna in any direction or side of the PCB that you prefer.

@nca78 All clear! What's your experience with this ME2188 booster? My feedback is positive: cheap, low power consumption, at least on the basis my measurement (not so accurate), and no noise that interfere with the radio module and the AS312 PIR.

Below the board (v.1.0) with 2xAAA batteries and RFM69 radio module

CR2032 battery and NRF24 radio module (THT)

CR2032 battery and NRF24 radio module (SMD)

The board v.2.0 is coming. If someone is interested, here all the project files (Kicad)

@nca78 No the datasheet that I have says nothing about what appens when CE pin is low.

I have discovered this behaviour when testing the board, but it is coherent with the diagram block of the IC reported in this datasheet.

In any case (booster on or off) the current will flow through the inductor, so it is not a real bypass, but the PIR works good in both situation and I have not observed any strange current or voltage spike.

Do you need to completly disconnect the Vout when the boost converter is disabled? Maybe you can obtain this connecting a p-mosfet and a n-mosfet (like Q3 and Q4), but on the Vout rail and drive the n-mos gate with the same pin that you use to enable the boost converter

Hi guys, problem solved

The high current issue was caused by the damn flyback diode (D7).
Now the boost converter works as expected and without triggering false positive issue on the PIR (AS312).
No problem also with the radio module (RFM69@868 Mhz). Not yet tested the board with a NRF24L01 radio module (THT or SMD) but I have both modules, so it is just a matter of time.

After some testing I have decided to remove Q3, Q4 and Q5 because the boost converter (ME2188C33) when not enabled through the CE PIN (driven by D4 of the ATMega) act as sort of "bypass" for VCC.

With 2xAAA rechargeable batteries at 2.4V I have had some stability problem with the MCU (reset), but I have solved setting the frequency and the fuses to work at 1 Mhz (with MYSBootloader). Is it normal that an ATMega328 at 8 Mhz is unstable at 2.4V?

The last thing that I have to change is the circuit of the blu led (D3)... The typical voltage drop of this led is 3.0V, so with 2xAAA batteries and 2.4V the brightness is to low, so the idea is to power it with the 3.3V out of the boost converter, controlling the brightness through an N-Mosfet, driven by PIN D5 of the AtMega.

The firmware is under testing and is available here

Below the updated schematics.

Update: in this days I'm testing the board and... I have a problem when the booster is activated by the MCU (VCC < 2.8V -> Pin D4 High).

In this situation the current goes very high (800 mA) and the boost coverter becomes very hot after few seconds, so it seems that somewhere a short circuit is present.

I have made this tests, but nothing has solved the issue:

• Removed Q4 and Q5 mosfet and R14, just to simplify the circuit and connected the inductor directly to VCC with a jumper wire

• Substituted the boost converter with a new one

• Tried different values of R14 (1M, 300K, 10K)

• Resoldered the inductor and the tantalum capacitor

I can not see any mistake in my schematics and to my eyes it is equivalent to the one reported in the datasheet (except for the CE pin that in my case is connected to Pin D4 of the atmega, instead of Vout), so another point of view may help.

Thanks in advance for the support

@pepson Hi, not sure if it is exactly what you are looking for, but this firmware

https://github.com/d-diot/d-diot-nano-repeater

Can turn a RGB led strip on and off with a button press. To force white color you need to customize the code.

@koresh Great! Thank you for your suggestion!

Do you have had any problem with false positive on the PIR sensors with this booster?

Another thing that I'm worried about is that the booster can introduce some sort of noise into the board and this can affect the quality of the radio signal. Do you have observed this kind of problem?

One Last (boring ) question... Have you placed a flyback diode across the inductor? I'm not sure if this component is strictly necessary.

I have made some progress with the board: added support for NRF24 radio modules (SMD and THT).

@nagelc The LiFePo4 batteries will be perfect (AA and AAA), but I arrived at your same conclusion: a little bit to exotic respect to standard alkaline or NiMH batteries.

@rozpruwacz Nice board, is similar to what I want, but unfortunately not exactly the same. I prefer to have one single board to simplify the build and external case design (3d-printable).

Thanks to your suggestion, I have modified a little bit the circuit:

Some consideration and board features:

• Added footprint for CR2032 coin cell and dedicated 100 uF capacitor to prevent problem related to the low discharge rate of the battery.

• Added a flyback diode across the inductor to discharge voltage spikes when the circuit is disconnected (mosfet Q3 - Pin D4). Not sure if it is strictly necessary... but just in case!

• Multiple power options: 2xAAA batteries, 1xCR2032, micro USB (phone charger), J6 pin header. When powered from an external source through USB port or J6, the voltage can be between 4 and 12V. When you power the board through FTDI or ICSP make sure that the voltage is 3.3V, otherwise the radio module will be damaged!

• Mosfet Q1 offers a reverse polarity protection to the board if the batteries are inserted in the wrong way. It cut off also the batteries compartment when an external power source is present, so you don't have to remove the batteries while powering the board via FTDI, ICSP, USB or J6

• When VCC is below 2.7V (AAA rechargeable batteries) the boost circuit is activated by the MCU (Pin D4). When VCC is above 2.7V (disposable AAA batteries or CR2032) the circuit is disabled and the PIR is powered directly form VCC (see Q3-Q4-Q5)

• To increase the battery life, the photoresistor is powered through PIN D5, only when the node is awake. During sleep D5 will be set to LOW, so no current waste.

• Two momentary switch: 1 for MCU reset and 1 to force the node to wake up

• Motion led (D3) and low battery / external powerl ed (D5) configurable in the firmware, plus radio activity LEDs

• Header for Si7021 breakout

• AS312 Pir with mounting holes for a standard fresnel lens like the one present in the HC-SR501

• MYSX 2.6 connector to add other sensors.

• ATSHA204A for security signing

• Size: 57x57 mm (not so small but also not so big)

This is how the board looks like

It is still under development, but if someone is interested, the Kicad project is available on github.

... Well the next step is to test the ME2188 boost converter... I hope that it can do its job without triggering false positive on the PIR sensors!

@rozpruwacz The ME2188 is quite inexpensive (€0.0574 ) so I will test it for sure. It is available also with different Vout voltages, so if it does its job could be an interesting option to power other type of sensors. This article is about the ME2108, which seems to be the predecessor of the ME2188 and the author says that the output voltage is clean and stable (tested with oscilloscope).

@Nca78 This XC6206 seems a good ldo vreg, thank you for the info. About the Li-ion battery, it seems to be a general agreement (see this topic for example) about the fact that the best option to power a node is with AA or AAA batteries. In fact one of the advantages is that you don't need to step up or down the voltage to power the radio and the MCU.

Yesterday I have had another idea for the circuit: the substitution of the manual jumper JP3 with 3 mosfet (Q3-Q4-Q5).
In this way you can completely exclude the booster circuit when not necessary (Vcc >= 2.7V) without manual adjustment of the jumper. Just put you batteries (disposable or rechargeable) in and... boom, the MCU will automatically do the job.

@zboblamont A cheap and silent alternative could be one of this qotom mini pc.

I'm using one of this as a virtual machine server with proxmox since 2-3 years and I'm very happy with it.

One of the vm is running pfsense so it act also as a main router / firewall for the entire Lan.

The backup of a vm is super easy but the initial setup of the environment requires a bit of Linux learning

Yes, the booster will be always on to power the PIR when the board is powered by rechargeable batteries (2.4V), but the idea is that if you use two disposable batteries (3.0V) or external power (micro usb port, ICSP or FTDI), the MCU reads the VCC voltage and then shuts down the booster and the PIR is powered directly.

In other words the booster will be activated by the firmware only if VCC is below 2.7V.

About the noise question... yes this could be a problem, but the manufacturer declare the booster as "Low ripple and Low noise", and in my schematic (see below) I have inserted a dedicated capacitor for the PIR, so I hope this is enough.

I prefer to stay with AAA batteries because I want to keep the global dimension of the node as low as possible and with this type of batteries I can power the radio module and the MCU directly from battery, saving some mA.

Hi,

according to this datasheet this PIR requires an input voltage of 2.7 - 3.3V, so if powered with 2xAAA (or AA) rechargeable NiMH batteries (2.4V) it will run out of spec.

Someone has tested it with this voltage?

If it does not working well, I have found this ME218833C boost converter that seems adequate to the job:

• Low quiescent current (13μA)

• Chip Enable Pin to enable and disable the circuit on demand

Hi,

today I have finished the wiki page of this node that is part of the d-diot project.

It is a gas sensor (MQ2) based on Arduino Nano and nrf24 radio module with a Neopixel RGB lamp, all in a 3d printable case.

This how it looks:

If someone is interested in the wiki page are reported all the details for the construction, including firmware, case design files and Kicad project of the GP pcb nano board.

Today.... This MQ2 gas sensor with Neopixel RGB lamp on top and a capacitive touch button under the circle mark on the front.

It is part of the d-diot project. The files of the 3d-printable case are available in Thingiverse.

The firmware is available here, the wiki page is under construction.

In the next weeks I will try to print it in wood... Just to increase the WAF

At which temperature have you desoldered and soldered the IC?

I have stressed for quite long time an ATMega2560 with hot air gun at 300°C and it is still working.

@alowhum No of course the MY_TRANSPORT_WAIT_READY_MS is not sufficient to achieve your goal, you have to tweak your code. The idea of @electrik is a good one.

I have faced a similar problem with an MQ2 gas sensor that implements a visual (LED) and acoustic (Buzzer) alarm when a gas leak is detected. The visual and sound alarms, that can work also in absence of the MySensors network, can be activated or deactivated with a physical button on the node or also in the controller with two dedicated switches (S_BINARY, V_STATUS).

The code is here.

One interesting option that you can consider is that if you define a constant at the beginning of your code like for example

#define PRIVACY_MODE

and the you wrap all of your privacy related code inside an #ifdef statement

#ifdef PRIVACY_MODE
sendWithPermission();
#endif
#ifndef PRIVACY_MODE
send();
#endif

the compiler will compile only the relevant part of the code, saving some space of your MCU memory.
This allows also you the easily disable and enable the functionality with a firmware flash.

You can also save the privacy state to EEPROM if you want to keep your setting across power cycle.

Hi,

check the MY_TRANSPORT_WAIT_READY_MS, maybe is suitable for you needs.

I use this directive to start a sketch, even if the MySensors network is not available

Found a solution! It is quite easy with the custom board features of PlatformIO.

I wrote a brief tutorial here.

Tested with a Pro Mini 8 MHz 3.3V and FTDI programmer.

Unfortunately I don't have here a 16 MHz 5V devices to test

Hi,
Is there someone that use PlatformIO to write the code for MySensors nodes?

I have discovered it recently and it has some advantages respect to the Arduino IDE, but I have not found, at least in a vanilla installation, the support for Arduino boards with MYSBootloader.

I have not found anything with a basic google search, so maybe this is the right place to ask.

Hi,

as a part of the d-diot project below a picture of the GP-PCB nano.
Front:

Rear:

The aim of the pcb is to to offer an easy way to build a reliable and compact MySensors node based on Arduino Nano and an NRF24L01 radio module.

The main features are:

• Small dimensions: 55 x 55 mm

• Socket for NRF24L01 radio module with dedicated capacitor

• MYSX connector v.2.6

• Radio traffic LED

• Multiple and flexible power options (5-23V) with the Mini-360 buck converter and jumper J2

• Support for a photoresistor to measure the light level

• Buzzer (beeper)

• Support for DHT22 temperature and humidity sensor

• 4 channel RGBW LED controller

• Dedicated 3.3V voltage regulator AMS1117 (optional) to power any type of radio module. The rail that powers the radio module is selectable with the jumper JP4

• Additional PIN to power external devices

• Support for ATSHA204 IC

• Support for DC Barrel Jack

• Mounting hole for a M2.5 screw

The Gerber file, schematics and the entire Kicad project are available for download here.

The code, built with PlatformIO, is part of the project and supports the following sensors and actuators:

• Up to 3 PIR sensors

• MQ2 Gas Detector with sound alarm and visual alarm, if you install a buzzer and a Neopixel LED strip

• Buzzer

• Photoresistor to measure the light level

• Button with 3 different pattern recognition: short press, long press, double click

• RGBW LED controller

• Addressable WS2812 RGB LEDs (Neopixel)

More details in the wiki page.

If someone is interested I can upload the board design files in openhardware.

@tbowmo Thank you for your effort! Now my turn... the whole schematics of the d-diot board is available for download here!

Of course I have to learn more and do some testing before implementing in the d-diot board the constant current source circuit that you suggested, but this a great option to eliminate the MP1584 (that one day may become unavailable on the market) and to lowering the cost. For the same reasons my plan is to substitute the step up module MT3608 with a boost converter circuit, made from standard passive components (like this).

In any case, if someone else needs to make an universal IR remote with a Raspberry Pi, the configuration of the GPIO pins of the Raspberry is here, while the steps necessary to configure LIRC and lirc_web are here.

The final results is this:

Here the guides to play with the IR gateway (add a remote, clone a remote, Home Assistant integration)

@mslv129jdg How do you have installed mosquitto? if you have installed it with the standard

sudo apt install mosquitto mosquitto-clients

then, the server starts automatically when you boot your Pi.

Mosquitto is a server program so it is normal that you don't see any new window. See this if you want to know how to test your MQTT server.

@tbowmo

I did not know the constant current driver, but a circuit like this one, can be implemented in the next revision of the d-diot board, in place of the MP1584.

@tbowmo Thanks for your technical feedback, really appreciated!

Let me explain some points:

• It adds extra complexity. Yes, but the board comes ready to use, so it is not a problem for the end user and the cost of the MP1584 is about 1$... Not too much respect to flexibility that it brings (see point 2)

• vFwd varies a lot, so 1.5V is not ideal for all IR diodes (it varies from 1.2V to 2V). The output voltage range of the MP1584 is adjustable (0.8 - about 5V), so you can use any LED you want. The suggested 3W IR LED (this one) has a great range respect to the normal IR led that are used in the numerous tutorial that you can find around. In my experience the range of one or two of this normal IR LEDs is about 1 meter or less.

• How is the response of the switchmode, if you pulse high current output at 38Khz, or 455Khz? (those are the normal frequencies used by IR remotes). I'm not so expert in electronics to give you a detailed answer, but the final results is that the circuit works. I have tested it with my Samsung smart tv (see this) and all the commands are well recognized by the TV.

• Extension cable Remember the WAF if your plan is to run a very long cable from the USB port to the additional LEDs The main idea is that the additional LEDs (maybe with their own 3d printed case) have to be placed near the hub to cover a wider angle (360°). For long distances maybe a simple and cheap DIY IR repeater is better.

Regarding the LEDs in series with a resistor (if needed), it was an option that I have considered but rejected for this two reasons:

• If only one LED burns out your transmitter does not work at all

• A resistor is a waste of power, especially if your current is not negligible

Please note also that if you want to power your LEDs with 5V, you can do that simply not installing the MP1584 and then bridging the input + and output + holes of the footprint with a wire.

I agree you have centered all the critical points:

• Ordering a pcb, all components and then soldering it is quite a barrier for "ordinary" people. Absolutely true! In fact my plan is to start a second Kickstarter campaign to sell some pre-assembled boards, if there are enough people interested and the feedback form the first campaign (not assembled pcb) is good. I have opened the d-diot website Friday, so the entire project is still a baby and I don't have a clear view of the next steps . In any case a final goal could be also a full finished product (case + board + Raspberry). For the ordinary user this will mean "plug in, take out your smartphone and play"

• What keeps you from having it open source and still sell assembled boards? In this moment only one "irrational fear" (please note the "" ).... loosing the possibility to keep the project sustainable and self-sufficient from an economical point of view (chinese clone, in other words). But I agree opening the hardware will improve and speed up the development and, at the end, the quality of the final product. The open source model works and this is a a fact (see Linux and Arduino). I think that a viable solution for me in this moment is to open at least the schematics; I'm evaluating this possibility from two days.

• 90% would buy a pre-made board from you. Yes I believe that too. Unfortunately the final price of a fully assembled board will be not so low, probably around 40-50€ (estimated), because today the assembly is not so cheap as the pcb manufacturing and the value of the components + radio modules is around 25€ (see here). So I prefer to keep also the DIY way open. Of course the price of a fully assembled board will drop with a massive production.

Sorry for the long post but I think that there are great possibilities around the open source home automation, which is a good thing also for privacy and security, especially now in the cloud era, but, in my opinion, the problem is that the various projects (and there are many!) are fragmented and not integrated in a simple and plug&play solution for the normal user. In fact d-diot is born from this consideration.

I have not talked about the other ideas / consideration to improve the experience of the others makers and that can generate some incomes to support the development, but for this post, I have already wasted enough bits with my bla bla bla, so I will proceed, if some other people are interested.

@hek Hi hek, very interesting argument.

I have a similar "problem" (it is not properly a problem, but english is not my native language, so this is the best word that I know) with my d-diot project (see here).

How is possible to keep an open source project sustainable and self-sufficient from an economical point of view?

For my project a viable solution is to sell some boards to generate some income that can cover, at least, the hosting cost.

I have some other ideas that can be suitable also for MySensors and that can improve the experience of the others members of the community.

If you are interested we can start a discussion here.

@homer Glad that it helped!

But make sure that RFLink supports your Watts Clever smart plug. If you already have an Arduino Mega and an RXB6 receiver at home is quite easy and fast to verify that.

Another interesting option is that you can couple the Arduino Mega with an ESP8266 and then expose the serial output over Wifi with ser2net (see here) in the ESPEasy firmware.

This other project goes further and use an ESP8266 to write the serial output of the RFLink to an MQTT server.

Both solutions add flexibility to the positioning of the RFLink module in your home.

Hi Homer, do you know the RFLink firmware?

If you are lucky, your plugs are supported. I have tested it with my Avidsen smart plug (this) and it worked well.

The firmware is supported by Home Assistant and other home automation software like Domoticz and Openhab (not tested by me), so the final result is that you can control your plugs from a simple web interface.

@tbowmo Yes I know and I'm a big fan of the open source too, since I discovered and started using Linux (it was way back in 2006 ).

As a result, the d-diot project is open and free in all its own software parts: for example all the configuration steps, script (oled), hack, tips and tricks are documented in the manual installation section of the wiki.

Opening the hardware completely in this moment is not so easy as for the software part because, as said above, selling some boards is the only options that i see to keep the project sustainable and self-sufficient from an economical point of view (hosting cost, test new pcb, buy the hardware, etc...).

Of course opening the hardware could improve the development with the contributes of other people, so I don't exclude this possibility for the future; at the same time sharing some schematics parts is not so dangerous, so to answer to your question about the step-up voltage regulator MT3608, see below:

The scope of the MT3608 is to power the FS1000A radio module (433 MHz transmitter) at 10-12V, to increase the range of the signal. The MT3608 is not strictly necessary because you can power the FS1000A with the RX3 PIN of the ATMega2560, bridging pin 1 and 2 of the jumper 5 (JP5). All is explained here.

The step-down MP1584 must be set to 1.5V if it is used to power one or more 940 nm IR LED (3W - 700 mA). The details are here, below the schematic:

The ir-pulse rail is connected to the pin 2 (+) of the J4 connector and to the D- pin of the USB port. A single IR LED is connected to the J4 connector, but if you want to increase the coverage of the IR signal you can connect 2 or 3 additional LED with the USB port. Please note that the MP1584 is rated at 3A.

The V-REG-OUT rail is connected to the D+ pin of the USB port.

Regarding the power rails, 5V is the main voltage provided by the power supply (+5V-IN in the schematics), while for the 3.3V there are 3 different lines, to not overload the voltage regulator of the Raspberry Pi:

• Line 1: provided by U2 (AMS1117 and its caps) and dedicated to power only the NRF24L01. In this way we have a voltage as smooth and stable as possible, to avoid problems with sensitive radio module.

• Line 2 (RAW): provided by U6 (AMS1117 and its caps) to power the radio activity and power status LEDs

• Line 3: provided by Raspberry Pi GPIO and used to power the RFM69 radio module.

@tbowmo Very good question.

No for the moment the schematics is not available on the website because selling some boards is the only options that i see to keep the project sustainable and self-sufficient from an economical point of view.

Of course if you have a specific question on the circuit or any of its parts, I will answer, here or in the d-diot forum if you prefer.

Speaking of circuit design, I have found this amazing Interactive html BOM plugin for Kicad.
It generates automatically an html file with an interactive board that highlights the place of each component. Very useful when you have to solder your components. The final results for the d-diot board is here.

Hi alowhum, some pictures of the fully assembled board are here, while the list of components (BOM) is here.

My plan is to make also a demo video of the board in action, but, at the moment my problem is that I have a limited amount of free time (and I guess that this is true also for other people here), so... I don't know when it will be available.

For the same reason, a 3d-printable case (WAF is important ) is not yet available, but in (very) slow development.

Regarding the second question, yes, my idea is to produce (about 100?) and sell some boards through a Kickstarter campaign, if there is enough interest around.

In any case at the moment I have some unused pcb at home, so I can send two of them to the MySensors community or dev team for testing.

Today I have finished my d-diot board:

The board is part of the d-diot project (see my other post)

Dear makers,

after a lot of learning and some tentatives, I have finished my d-diot project.

Basically it is a board that sits on top of a Raspberry Pi and has the following features:

• Latch circuit to turn on and off safely your Raspberry Pi with the SW1 button.

• Infrared receiver and transmitter with activity LEDs.

• USB port to add extra infrared transmitters (or simply charge your phone).

• DC power jack and power status LEDs.

• 433 Mhz Gateway (RFLink) with the Atmega2560 microcontroller and 433 Mhz radio modules (FS1000A and RXB6)

• MySensors dual Gateway with NRF24L01 and RFM69 (868 Mhz) radio modules and radio traffic LEDs.

• I2C OLED Display (SSD1306) controlled through Raspberry GPIO.

• FTDI and ICSP connectors to program the ATMega2560 microcontroller.

• Step-up and step-down voltage regulators.

• Fan pin header.

• Footprint for optional high gain 433 Mhz and 868 Mhz antennas.

A pre-configured Raspbian image image with Home Assistant and MySensors is also part of the project.

In the d-diot wiki you can find a detailed description of how I have configured the Raspberry to support two radio modules.

Maybe this can be usefull for some other people.

If someone is intersted on the project, well simply contact me.

Any comment or suggestion is well appreciated.

Hi, to power a sensor or actuator with a 18650 li-ion battery I have designed this pcb based on a tp4056 module and MT3608 booster.

Schematic:

Main features:

• Load sharing circuit to safely power the load while charging the battery

• Boost converter MT3608 (optional) to increase the output voltage. To reduce the size of the board the right part delimited by the vertical white line can be cut out

• Charging status signaling led (optional)

• Voltage dividers (optional) to measure Vin - V batt - V boost - V standby. Output available through J4

• Battery reverse polarity protection through mosfet Q4, excludable through jumper JP3

• Battery voltage measure point can be selected through jumper JP2

This board can be used with this one

I have ordered it (JLCPCB) but yet tested. After that if someone is interested I can share it through openhardware.

Any suggestion / improvement / comment is well appreciated.

And... after a while and some googling & Kicad learning, I have designed my first pcb.
Below the final result

At the moment it is not tested but after that if someone is interested I can share it in openhardware.

Below the schematic

Any suggestion / improvement / comment is well appreciated.

The final goal is to have one pcb that is suitable for a large numbers of node types.

This reduce the time of building, make the soldering process easier and gives a more "professional" and robust final result.

Having one single pcb makes also my life easier when I have to design a 3d printable case and when I have to place the components inside.

@gohan The part numbers in the schematics are just for example because the aim of the proposed modifications to the power section of the easy newbie pcb is to allow more flexibility in the power options.

For example:

2 x AA battery powered node + Pro mini 3.3V:

• Arduino Power Selecor -> short with a jumper the pin at the right end (1 and 3)
• Install a 3.3V fixed output boost converter
• Out selector: short wit a jumper the pins 1 and 2 and go to Vcc Pin of the pro mini
• Radio Pwr Selecor->Short with a jumper the pins 1 and 3 to power the radio directly from the battery
• Bypass with a wire the Vin and Vout of the Optional 3.3V voltage regulator
• Enable with a jumper the V div circuit to measure the battery voltage

3.3 V regulated Vin + Pro mini 3.3V:

• Arduino Power Selector -> short with a jumper the pins in the middle (2 and 2)
• Radio Pwr Selector->Short with a jumper the pins at the right end (1 and 3) to directly power the radio
• Bypass with a wire the Vin and Vout of the Optional 3.3V voltage regulator

5 V regulated Vin + Pro mini 3.3V:

• Arduino Power Selector -> short with a jumper the pins at the left corner (3 and 1) to power the pro mini through RAW pin
• Radio Pwr Selector->Short with a jumper the pins at the left end (3 and 1) to power the radio from the pro mini Vcc out (3.3V)
• Bypass with a wire the Vin and Vout of the Optional 3.3V voltage regulator

9V battery power node and pro mini 3.3V:

• Same configuration of 5 V regulated Vin + Pro mini 3.3V:

12V/24V regulated Vin + Pro mini 3.3V:

• -Arduino Power Selector -> short with a jumper the pin at the right end (1 and 3)
• Install a 3.3V fixed output Voltage regulator
• Out selector: short wit a jumper the pins 1 and 2 and go to Vcc Pin of the pro mini (or go to the raw pin if a 5V Vreg is used
• Radio Pwr Selector->Short with a jumper the pins at the left end (3 and 1) to power the radio from the pro mini Vcc out (3.3V)
• Bypass with a wire the Vin and Vout of the Optional 3.3V voltage regulator

And so on... Is possible to find the right combination of hardware and jumper also for a 5V pro mini

One other possibility is to power the pcb through a daughter board and MysX connector. This increase significantly the power options (220 AC, Li-ion batteries) like for example with the use of an AC/DC converter (HLK-PM01), a tp4056 Li-Ion battery charger and so on, directly soldered on the daughter board

@nca78 Yes it should work.

If I connect the output of the tp4056 to the gnd and reg input of the screw terminal of the easy newbie pcb and then I run a wire from the Vout of the booster to the raw input of the screw terminal, the final result is also quite clean and it is not necessary to solder the wire directly on the pro mini.

I think that, in this case, the reg jumper must be NOT shortened.

@รอเร-อ I have a similar need, but not exactly the same.
My power route is:
18650 Lipo (2.7 - 4.2 V) -> TP4056 (charger) -> Booster (5V) -> Raw pin of pro mini 3.3V -> Vcc of pro mini 3.3V -> Radio (NRF24)

In my case the easy newbie pcb is not directly suitable because the Vout of the Booster is connected to Vcc instead of raw.

So my idea is to use a modified version of the easy newbie pcb with the schematic posted here
in order to have more flexibility in the power options.

Actually I don't have the skills to design a pcb, but maybe, if the idea is good, someone else could design it.

This schematic is compatible with all the power options actually supported by the easy newbie pcb, and supports also new possibility, simply changing a couple of jumpers

Hi guys, this is my firs post here, so thank you for the amazing work!
I'm working on a multisensor (3 x Pir, 1 x DHT22, 1 x LDR, 1 x OLED display, 1 x WS2812B led ring for signaling and as small RGB lamp, 1 capacitive touch button) with an arduino pro mini 3.3V (8 Mhz) and NRF24L01+, all placed in a hexagonal custom case (3d printable).

The sensors has also a TP4056, a 18650 Li-Ion battery and a step-up boost converter to power the arduino (raw pin) and all the other components. The radio is powered through the arduino Vcc Pin (3.3 V) and all works quite good on a breadboard.

Now I'm in the soldering phase (perfboard) but this task is very time consuming and this technique gives a "non professional" looking to the inside of the node, so I have found this easy-newbie pcb and it is great! Thank you for sharing this!

So my plan is to use this pcb instead of three different perfboard but I think that at the moment the power section is not fully compatible with my setup, but with some modification it will be OK and this modifications could allows more flexibility in the power options for the pcb.

Off course I don't have the skills to directly design and share a modified pcb, so I'm writing here my idea with the hope that, if it is useful, someone can implement it.
Here is the schematic of the modified power section.

I think that, with this schematics and the appropriate hardware choice, it is possible to cover a large number of power supply options (regulated and unregulated power input, 5V and 3.3V pro mini, 2xAA battery, 12Vin, 24Vin, 9V battery, TP4056 + 18650 Li-Ion cell, daughter board power source, etc...) , simply changing a couple of jumpers.

About daughter board... I don't know which is the best connection option for the Vraw pin of the MysX connector... Raw or Vin? Maybe Vin...

Let me know what you think and if it can be useful. Sorry for the long post and bad english.